Paula Badosa cheers boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas on from the stands as Greek powers into US Open 2R with win over Milos Raonic

Paula Badosa was spotted cheering for her boyfriend Stefanos Tsitsipas from the stands during the Greek's first-round encounter at the 2023 US Open.

Tsitsipas' hunt for a maiden Grand Slam title started off on a good note as he cruised past Canada's Milos Raonic, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4, on Monday, August 28. The World No. 7 captivated the crowd at the Louis Armstrong Stadium with a number of brilliant forehand winners.

Badosa, sitting among the fans, cheered Tsitsipas on to an emphatic opening-round victory.

Paula Badosa will not compete at the US Open this year, having suffered a spinal stress fracture in May. She last played at Wimbledon, where she retired from her second-round match against Marta Kostyuk.

The win on Monday marked Tsitsipas' first-ever over Raonic. During his on-court interview, the Greek acknowledged that he had to play his best to beat a "champion" like Raonic.

"It was fun to play high quality tennis against a champion like Milos," he said. "He’s dealing with a comeback and I knew he had nothing to lose. I had to bring my A game from the very first point. I made it physical and it worked."

Tsitsipas will face Dominic Stricker in the second round. He beat the young Swiss player in their only previous meeting at the 2022 BOSS Open in straight sets.

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"My goals are to surpass Paula's best ranking" - Stefanos Tsitsipas

Stefanos Tsitsipas at the 2022 Laver Cup

Stefanos Tsitsipas recently stated that one of his major goals is to equal or surpass his girlfriend Paula Badosa's career-best ranking of World No. 2, which she achieved in April 2022.

Speaking to the press at the Los Cabos Open earlier this month, Tsitsipas revealed that healthy competition exists between the couple.

"My goals are to surpass Paula's best ranking, which is World No. 2. And to get better than that," he said. "The good thing about us is that we get competitive in those things in a healthy way so I hope I get to equal it or even better."

Tsitsipas is currently ranked No. 7 in the world. He has a career-best ranking of World No. 3, which he achieved in August 2021. Meanwhile, Badosa has fallen to World No. 48.